Knowledge of Angels – Jill Paton Walsh
Jill Paton Walsh is an extraordinarily versatile writer. Many will know her for her numerous works for children, and more recently for her work continuing the legacy of Dorothy L Sayers’ Peter Wimsey novels. In addition to this, she has written a number of intriguing and thought-provoking novels for adults, and ‘Knowledge of Angels’ is an excellent example of these two characteristics.
The story is set on a Mediterranean island in the fifteenth century, described in almost cinematic detail in the opening pages, as Paton Walsh invites us to contemplate the nature of fiction and storytelling. To this closed community come two strangers – one from the outside, a castaway found by local fishermen, and one from within, a girl seemingly raised by wolves in the forests of the island. One is as eloquent as the other is savage, but their fates become irretrievably tied together as their stories progress.
At the heart of the book lie a number of questions of belief. Palinor, the castaway, professes to have no religion, which poses a challenge to the authority of the Inquisition on the island. Amara, the wolf child, seems unredeemably animal in her behaviour, but begins to grow under the care of the nuns of Sant Clara, raising the issue of nature and nurture. Both of their stories are also about love, and self-knowledge, and what is and is not possible.
Yet the book is written in such a way, that these weighty questions are explored at the same time as creating a page-turning thoroughly engrossing story, in which the reader is drawn in turn into the lives of Amara and Palinor. Disturbing, sensitive and deeply affecting, this is a book that will keep you thinking for a very long time.
Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz
The first novel in Horowitz’s phenomenally successful Alex Rider series, this is a must for fans of action, adventure and James Bond style one liners.
Alex Rider is a seemingly ordinary 14-year-old boy. However, when his uncle is killed in a car accident, his world begins to unravel. An orphan, Alex finds that without the protection of his guardian he is in the hands of his uncle’s employers – and they are not a bank, but MI6!
Horowitz keeps the reader moving quickly from action sequence to action sequence, with a liberal amount of humour and contemporary references along the way. The structure is familiar to Bond fans, and once you have suspended your disbelief at the idea of a teenage spy, it all becomes gripping and plausible. In particular, the gadgets Alex uses and the villainous Herod Sayle will appeal to teenage readers – while the intriguingly sinister character of Yassen Gregorovitch is introduced here, ready to be developed further through the rest of the series.
Ideal for fans of ripping yarns and reluctant readers alike, you will find that one chapter is never enough, as Horowitz is the master of the cliff-hanger ending. A 12-year-old of my acquaintance told me recently that this book is ‘even better than the film’ – if you know any 12-year-olds, then you will know that I need not say any more than that!
By Kath Bennet